From Investment to Experience, creating the Malibu Summer Escape at Abingdon Street Market
When Malibu approached us with funding to create a Summer activation, we have a fairly simple question to answer – how can we use the investment to create something that genuinely added value to our guests and change how they experienced the market, without just adding branded signage and table talkers.
The result is Malibu Summer Escape: a temporary transformation of the food hall designed to bring that Summer holiday feeling Blackpool.
Since Abingdon Street Market opened in 2023, food halls have evolved massively, they’re no longer just places to find something to eat and a craft beer. The strongest food halls increasingly operate as social and third spaces, somewhere people come to spend time, meet friends, discover something new and to enjoy an atmosphere as much as the food and drinks. That shift was central to our thinking.
Rather than treating the investment as a sponsorship, we’ve used it to temporarily change the atmosphere of Abingdon Street Market. We invested in creating a bespoke beach hut style bar on the stage in the centre of the food hall, which at night turns into a DJ booth with a branded Malibu neon. We created a relaxed summer seating area with deck chairs, outdoor rugs, side tables and additional tropical plants. I wanted to transform the space to feel less like a traditional food hall, and create a more immersive environment.
Hospitality is increasingly about the experience surrounding food and drink, not simply the transaction. With current industry research showing that guests are looking for more experiential reasons to visit, with atmosphere, socialising and memorable moments playing an increasingly important role.
We also invested in the details that influence the guest journey. Four Malibu cocktail specials have been created, supported by dedicated menus. Our photobooth has also been redesigned, including new Malibu graphics on the exterior, while bar gantry signage and A1 artwork extended the campaign throughout the venue. We also added summer sunglasses and hand fans to each table, giving guests an accessory to take away.
The intention was not to add a few Malibu logos and table talkers to the market and say job done. We approached the activation as a venue-wide experience. The investment allowed us to experiment with our space and demonstrate how relatively small changes to furniture, lighting, planting, music, visual identity and programming can completely change the atmosphere of the venue.
For us, this is what a successful brand partnership should do. Malibu provided the investment, but our responsibility has been to turn that investment into something meaningful for our guests and commercially valuable for the market.
Check out Malibu Summer Escape at Abingdon Street Market, Friday 13th – Sunday 30th August.
